Ten interesting facts about Christmas - Dallas City News (2024)

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Ten interesting facts about Christmas - Dallas City News? ›

1 in 3 men wait until Christmas Eve to do their shopping. Christmas came from the words Cristes Maesse meaning “mass of Christ.” Christmas trees usually grow for close to 15 years before they can be sold. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer got his start as an advertising gimmick for Montgomery Ward in 1839.

1 in 3 men wait until Christmas Eve to do their shopping. Christmas came from the words Cristes Maesse meaning “mass of Christ.” Christmas trees usually grow for close to 15 years before they can be sold. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer got his start as an advertising gimmick for Montgomery Ward in 1839.

The celebration of Christmas started in Rome about 336, but it did not become a major Christian festival until the 9th century.

Early celebrations of Christmas are thought to have derived from Roman and other European festivals that marked the end of the harvest, and the winter solstice. Some customs from those celebrations that have endured include decorating homes with greenery, giving gifts, singing songs, and eating special foods.

3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. each year. Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850. It takes about 15 years to grow the average Christmas tree. Alabama was the first state to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.

If you think, judging by that white beard and hair, Kris Kringle might be around 70 or 80, the truth is he's far, far older. According to History.com, the monk who over time would evolve into Santa Claus was born in what is now modern-day Turkey in 280 A.D., making him a whopping 1,741 years old!

Christmas as a girl's name (also used as boy's name Christmas), is of Old English origin. Name of the holiday, used occasionally for December 25 babies, but now more usually replaced by the French form, Noel.

The date of the birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical sources and the evidence is too incomplete to allow for consistent dating. However, most biblical scholars and ancient historians believe that his birth date is around 4 to 6 BC.

What month was Jesus really born? ›

Was it October, December, or April? Theories concerning the exact month when Jesus was born have been and still are a topic of scholarly debate. One of the most commonly suggested months is December. This is a traditional Church theory built upon the celebration of Christmas on December 25th.

The most common story around Christmas observation was when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told that she will be having a special child from the Lord. It is said that Mother Mary got this prediction on March 25 and nine months later on December 25 Jesus was born.

Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.

“The real reason for the selection of Dec. 25 seems to have been that it is exactly nine months after March 25, the traditional date of Jesus' crucifixion. … As Christians developed the theological idea that Jesus was conceived and crucified on the same date, they set the date of his birth nine months later.”